Straatverkoper 1900 - 1922

This photograph, Straatverkoper, by Robert Julius Boers, captures a street vendor and customer in what was formerly the Dutch East Indies. The sepia tones in this image make the subject matter feel very distant and historical, but also somehow immediate. The image is of a food vendor with what appears to be a customer approaching. But there is another person present in the image: the photographer. It is the photographer's actions of choosing a framing, picking a moment, and taking the picture that brings us to the scene. The details are scarce, but the image is very sharp and clear. Looking closely at the wheels, I can see the marks left by the movement of the cart, almost like ghostly traces. The work as a whole is a record of labor and commerce, but also a testament to the labor of the photographer. Boers’ work reminds me of the photography of Eugène Atget, who also documented street life and architecture. Both artists seem to understand the power of photography to capture not just a scene, but a whole way of life.